I first heard about First Fridays last summer from a friend. Only recently have I discovered how expansive this Central Phoenix event has become. Information about the event on the web is fairly fragmented. First Fridays was started in 1994 by Artlink (an all volunteer arts group) and is sponsored by local businesses. 100 galleries and art venues are open to the public the first Friday of each month from 6pm – 10pm. A system of shuttle buses on overlapping routes carry art goers as far south as 3rd St & Grant, north to 7th Ave & Glenrosa, east to 7th St & Roosevelt, and west to 15th Ave & Grand. Maps for your night on the town are available at any of the venues. You can get an idea of the amount of ground to cover from the Spring07 map on the Artlink site.
You can learn more about the event from the Arizona Republic online entertainment guide. I’ll be hitting the galleries this Friday and writing my take on it later in the week.
